President Edgar Lungu And Hon. Chishimba Kambwili Must Reconcile And Unite In Honour Of The Late Fr. Charles Chilinda.
By Wiseman Tembo.
Lusaka – 22nd January, 2021.
The untimely end of St. Ignitious Catholic Priest’s life, Father Charles Chilinda, here on Earth (MHSRIP) has left the Church and the entire nation broken and devastated because he was not only a spiritual guide but also a unifier. He will be sorely missed especially in this election year.
One sweet and precious memory he has left us with and it keeps on re-playing in our minds is one occasion during the Church service marking the 5th Anniversary of the passing on of the late Republican President Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata where he called President Lungu and Hon. Kambwili to the front and asked them to put aside their differences and reconcile for the sake of the Patriotic Front and the founding President of the Patriotic Front, the Great Micheal Chilufya Sata.
The two (President Lungu and Hon. Kambwili) shook hands and reconciled in front of the congregation in the presence of the former first lady Dr. Christine Kaseba and the congregants. President Edgar Lungu said he had nothing against the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader and in return Hon. Kambwili also said he had nothing against the Republican President much to the excitement of the congregants. Many Zambians hoped that that was the beginning of the end of their bitter rivalry.
During the same Church service, Fr. Chilinda told the congregants about how he initiated the Mwanawasa-Sata reconciliation by advising Sata then as an opposition leader to go to State House and have breakfast with President Mwanawasa. After Mwanawasa died, Sata thanked Fr. Chilinda for his advice and told him that he would have been a “guilty man” had he not reconciled with Mwanawasa.
Now that the man that asked EL and CK to reconcile is no more, it is only imperative that the two graduates from the Micheal Sata School of Politics reconcile. They don’t have much time left to reconcile as they may be thinking because no one knows about tomorrow. Simply put, they have no luxury of time to continue playing politics. No one does anyway. The lesson I get from all this is that tomorrow is never guaranteed and what unites us is more powerful and important than what seeks to divide us. There are no differences too serious to be put behind.
Micheal Sata is looking down on them from heaven, and so is Fr. Chilinda. The onus, now, is on them to do the right thing and show each other love. In Church and in front of the congregants they said they never had anything against each other. Their words were very loud and clear now it’s time for their actions to be louder.
About The Author: Mr. Wiseman Tembo is a social and economic issues analyst.
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